The present invention relates to furniture incorporating panel-like structural elements formed from stressed fabric. The furniture so formed is flexible in design and execution, enabling a wide variety of different types and styles of furniture to be constructed in accordance with the basic concept of the invention. The furniture is light in weight yet sturdy in construction. The fabric portions may be removed for washing or dying or for replacement because of wear, to change the color, or for other reasons.
Briefly, furniture of the present invention includes a pair of spaced side plates. The plates are typically vertically oriented and horizontally spaced to define the height and depth of the furniture. A plurality of rods extend between the plates to define the width of the furniture. The rods are located on the plates so that pairs of rods demarcate the location of generally planar panel elements. A sheet of fabric tensilely stressed in a direction parallel to the side plates is secured to one of the rods, deflected about others of the rods, and secured to another rod to form panels of the furniture. An end portion of the sheet beyond the securing rod may form a movable portion of the furniture, such as a shelf front or lid.
Additional sheets of fabric may be attached to the tensilely stressed sheet. These additional sheets may also be tensilely stressed to form further elements of the furniture, such as shelves, or may be unstressed to form elements such as storage bins.